Aims

This systematic review places a recently completed multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT), UK FROST, in the context of existing randomized evidence for the management of primary frozen shoulder. UK FROST compared the effectiveness of pre-specified physiotherapy techniques with a steroid injection (PTSI), manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) with a steroid injection, and arthroscopic capsular release (ACR). This review updates a 2012 review focusing on the effectiveness of MUA, ACR, hydrodilatation, and PTSI.

Aims. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented burden on global healthcare systems, and existing infrastructures must adapt and evolve to meet the challenge. With health systems reliant on the health of their workforce, the importance of protection against disease transmission in healthcare workers (HCWs) is clear. This study collated responses from several countries, provided by clinicians familiar with practice in each location, to identify areas of best practice and policy so as to build consensus of those measures that might reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to HCWs at work. Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was designed with ten open and closed questions and sent to a representative sample. The sample was selected on a convenience basis of 27 senior surgeons, members of an international surgical society, who were all frontline workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was reported according to the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist. Results. Responses were received by all 27 surgeons from 22 countries across six continents. A number of the study respondents reported COVID-19-related infection and mortality in HCWs in their countries. Differing areas of practice and policy were identified and organized into themes including the specification of units receiving COVID-19 patients, availability and usage of personal protective equipment (PPE), other measures to reduce staff exposure, and communicating with and supporting HCWs. Areas more specific to surgery also identified some variation in practice and policy in relation to visitors to the hospital, the outpatient department, and in the operating room for both non-urgent and emergency care. Conclusion. COVID-19 presents a disproportionate risk to HCWs, potentially resulting in a diminished health system capacity, and consequently an impairment to population health. Implementation of these recommendations at an international level could provide a framework to reduce this burden

Aims

We wanted to evaluate the effects of a bone anabolic agent (bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2)) on an anti-catabolic background (systemic or local zoledronate) on fixation of allografted revision implants.

The COVID-19 virus is a tremendous burden for the Italian health system. The regionally-based Italian National Health System has been reorganized. Hospitals' biggest challenge was to create new intensive care unit (ICU) beds, as the existing system was insufficient to meet new demand, especially in the most affected areas. Our institution in the Milan metropolitan area of Lombardy, the epicentre of the infection, was selected as one of the three regional hub for major trauma, serving a population of more than three million people. The aims were the increase the ICU beds and the rationalization of human and structural resources available for treating COVID-19 patients. In our hub hospital, the reorganization aimed to reduce the risk of infection and to obtained resources, in terms of beds and healthcare personnel to be use in the COVID-19 emergency. Non-urgent outpatient orthopaedic activity and elective surgery was also suspended. A training programme for healthcare personnel started immediately. Orthopaedic and radiological pathways dedicated to COVID-19 patients, or with possible infection, have been established. In our orthopaedic department, we passed from 70 to 26 beds. Our goal is to treat trauma surgery's patient in the “golden 72 hours” in order to reduce the overall hospital length of stay. We applied an objective priority system to manage the flow of surgical procedures in the emergency room based on clinical outcomes and guidelines. Organizing the present to face the emergency is a challenge, but in the global plan of changes in hospital management one must also think about the near future. We reported the Milan metropolitan area orthopaedic surgery management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our decisions are not based on scientific evidence; therefore, the decision on how reorganize hospitals will likely remain in the hands of individual countries

Aims

COVID-19 has compounded a growing waiting list problem, with over 4.5 million patients now waiting for planned elective care in the UK. Views of patients on waiting lists are rarely considered in prioritization. Our primary aim was to understand how to support patients on waiting lists by hearing their experiences, concerns, and expectations. The secondary aim was to capture objective change in disability and coping mechanisms.

Aims. Femoral revision component subsidence has been identified as predicting early failure in revision hip surgery. This comparative cohort study assessed the potential risk factors of subsidence in two commonly used femoral implant designs. Methods. A comparative cohort study was undertaken, analyzing a consecutive series of patients following revision total hip arthroplasties using either a tapered-modular (TM) fluted titanium or a porous-coated cylindrical modular (PCM) titanium femoral component, between April 2006 and May 2018. Clinical and radiological assessment was compared for both treatment cohorts. Risk factors for subsidence were assessed and compared. Results. In total, 65 TM and 35 PCM cases were included. At mean follow-up of seven years (1 to 13), subsidence was noted in both cohorts during the initial three months postoperatively (p < 0.001) then implants stabilized. Subsidence noted in 58.7% (38/65 cases) of the TM cohort (mean 2.3 mm, SD 3.5 mm) compared to 48.8% (17/35) of PCM cohort (mean 1.9 mm, SD 2.6 mm; p = 0.344). Subsidence of PCM cohort were significantly associated with extended trochanteric osteotomy (ETO) (p < 0.041). Although the ETO was used less frequently in PCM stem cohort (7/35), subsidence was noted in 85% (6/7) of them. Significant improvement of the final mean Oxford Hip Score (OHS) was reported in both treatment groups (p < 0.001). Conclusion. Both modular TM and PCM revision femoral components subsided within the femur. TM implants subsided more frequently than PCM components if the femur was intact but with no difference in clinical outcomes. However, if an ETO is performed then a PCM component will subside significantly more and suggests the use of a TM implant may be advisable. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2020;102-B(6):709–715

Aims

To determine the likelihood of achieving a successful closed reduction (CR) of a dislocated hip in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) after failed Pavlik harness treatment We report the rate of avascular necrosis (AVN) and the need for further surgical procedures.

Aims. The aim of this study was to report the outcomes of patients who underwent definitive surgery for secondary chondrosarcomas arising from osteochondromas. Patients and Methods. A total of 51 patients with secondary chondrosarcomas occurring from osteochondromas were reviewed. Median age was 36 years (interquartile range (IQR) 15 to 82). Median follow-up was 6.9 years (IQR 2.8 to 10.6). The pelvis was the most commonly affected site (59%). Histological grades were grade I in 35 (69%), grade II in 13 (25%), and grade III in three patients (6%). Results. Preoperative biopsy histology correctly predicted the final histological grade in 27% of patients. The ten-year disease-specific survival (DSS) for all patients was 89.4%. Local recurrence occurred in 15 patients (29%), more commonly in pelvic tumours (37%) compared with limb tumours (19%). Four patients with pelvic tumours died from progression of local recurrence. No patient with limb tumours died of disease. Wide/radical margin was associated with improved local recurrence-free survival (p = 0.032) and local recurrence was associated with worse DSS (p = 0.005). Conclusion. We recommend that a secondary chondrosarcoma arising from osteochondroma of the pelvis is resected with wide/radical resection margins. The balance between the morbidity of surgery and risk of local recurrence needs to be considered in patients with limb secondary chondrosarcomas. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B:1313–1320

Aims. The best marker for assessing glycaemic control prior to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of fructosamine compared with glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in predicting early complications following TKA, and to determine the threshold above which the risk of complications increased markedly. Patients and Methods. This prospective multi-institutional study evaluated primary TKA patients from four academic institutions. Patients (both diabetics and non-diabetics) were assessed using fructosamine and HbA1c levels within 30 days of surgery. Complications were assessed for 12 weeks from surgery and included prosthetic joint infection (PJI), wound complication, re-admission, re-operation, and death. The Youden’s index was used to determine the cut-off for fructosamine and HbA1c associated with complications. Two additional cut-offs for HbA1c were examined: 7% and 7.5% and compared with fructosamine as a predictor for complications. Results. Overall, 1119 patients (441 men, 678 women) were included in the study. Fructosamine level of 293 µmol/l was identified as the optimal cut-off associated with complications. Patients with high fructosamine (> 293 µmol/l) were 11.2 times more likely to develop PJI compared with patients with low fructosamine (p = 0.001). Re-admission and re-operation rates were 4.2 and 4.5 times higher in patients with fructosamine above the threshold (p = 0.005 and p = 0.019, respectively). One patient (1.7%) from the elevated fructosamine group died compared with one patient (0.1%) in the normal fructosamine group (p = 0.10). These complications remained statistically significant in multiple regression analysis. Unlike fructosamine, all three cut-offs for HbA1c failed to show a significant association with complications. Conclusion. Fructosamine is a valid and an excellent predictor of complications following TKA. It better reflects the glycaemic control, has greater predictive power for adverse events, and responds quicker to treatment compared with HbA1c. These findings support the screening of all patients undergoing TKA using fructosamine and in those with a level above 293 µmol/l, the risk of surgery should be carefully weighed against its benefit. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B(7 Supple C):3–9

The cost of clinical negligence in the UK has continued to rise despite no increase in claims numbers from 2016 to 2019. In the US, medical malpractice claim rates have fallen each year since 2001 and the payout rate has stabilized. In Germany, malpractice claim rates for spinal surgery fell yearly from 2012 to 2017, despite the number of spinal operations increasing. In Australia, public healthcare claim rates were largely static from 2008 to 2013, but private claims rose marginally. The cost of claims rose during the period. UK and Australian trends are therefore out of alignment with other international comparisons. Many of the claims in orthopaedics occur as a result of “failure to warn”, i.e. lack of adequately documented and appropriate consent. The UK and USA have similar rates (26% and 24% respectively), but in Germany the rate is 14% and in Australia only 2%. This paper considers the drivers for the increased cost of clinical negligence claims in the UK compared to the USA, Germany and Australia, from a spinal and orthopaedic point of view, with a focus on “failure to warn” and lack of compliance with the principles established in February 2015 in the Supreme Court in the case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board. The article provides a description of the prevailing medicolegal situation in the UK and also calculates, from publicly available data, the cost to the public purse of the failure to comply with the principles established. It shows that compliance with the Montgomery principles would have an immediate and lasting positive impact on the sums paid by NHS Resolution to settle negligence cases in a way that has already been established in the USA. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2020;102-B(5):550–555

Aims

Open discectomy (OD) is the standard operation for lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD), however, has shown similar outcomes to OD and there is increasing interest in this procedure. However despite improved surgical techniques and instrumentation, reoperation and infection rates continue and are reported to be between 6% and 24% and 0.7% and 16%, respectively. The objective of this study was to compare the rate of reoperation and infection within six months of patients being treated for LDH either by OD or PELD.

Aims

A pragmatic multicentre randomized controlled trial, UK FROzen Shoulder Trial (UK FROST), was conducted in the UK NHS comparing the cost-effectiveness of commonly used treatments for adults with primary frozen shoulder in secondary care.

Aims. The aim of this study was to determine whether closed suction drain (CSD) use influences recovery of quadriceps strength and to examine the effects of drain use on secondary outcomes: quadriceps activation, intra-articular effusion, bioelectrical measure of swelling, range of movement (ROM), pain, and wound healing complications. Patients and Methods. A total of 29 patients undergoing simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) were enrolled in a prospective, randomized blinded study. Patients were randomized to receive a CSD in one limb while the contralateral limb had the use of a subcutaneous drain (SCDRN) without the use of suction (‘sham drain’). Isometric quadriceps strength was collected as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes consisted of quadriceps activation, intra-articular effusion measured via ultrasound, lower limb swelling measured with bioelectrical impendence and limb girth, knee ROM, and pain. Outcomes were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively at day two, two and six weeks, and three months. Differences between limbs were determined using paired Student’s t-tests or Wilcoxon’s signed-rank tests. Results. No significant differences were identified between limbs prior to surgery for the primary or secondary outcomes. No significant differences in quadriceps strength were seen between CSD and SCDRN limbs at postoperative day two (p = 0.09), two weeks (primary endpoint) (p = 0.7), six weeks (p = 0.3), or three months (p = 0.5). The secondary outcome of knee extension ROM was significantly greater in the CSD limb compared with the SCDRN (p = 0.01) at two weeks following surgery, but this difference was absent at all other intervals. Secondary outcomes of quadriceps activation, intra-articular effusion, lower limb swelling, and pain were not found to differ significantly at any timepoint following surgery. Conclusion. The use of CSD during TKA did not influence quadriceps strength, quadriceps activation, intra-articular effusion, lower limb swelling, ROM, or pain. These results have limited drain use by the authors in primary uncomplicated TKA. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B (7 Supple C):84–90